A Heart that Beats Black
by Celestial Starlet
Summary: We all know about Sirius's life right before died. What happened before that?
1. Chapter 1

It happened again. It's the third time this month- a new record, even for him. Sirius Black has just received another howler. His mother's screechy voice still echoed within my mind. _Stupid witch, _I thought. _How can a mother treat her own dear son so cruelly?_ It didn't help that after a long, awkward pause filled with silence, the entire Great Hall busted into loud, mocking laughter. Despite all this, Sirius had stayed throughout the entire meal. He was too proud to admit defeat to something as simple as a letter, even if that letter had just screamed at you.

Still, no matter how tough he acted, I knew it hurt. You could just tell, if only you were willing to look. I wanted to say something to him, to tell him that I knew what it was like to be rejected by your family, but I could not. To put it simply, Sirius was… out of my league, per say.

Unintentionally, I ended up behind the Marauders on the way back to the common room. I hugged my books close to my chest and hoped that Sirius couldn't hear my heart beat. They were all murmuring excitedly to each other, and I wondered what they talked about. If only I could be in their group!

I was so busy wishing that I was among them that I subconsciously began following them. I didn't even notice that we passed the fat lady's portrait and continued walking on the seventh floor. Spontaneous fits of laughter reached my ears, and I followed behind like a horse that follows a carrot tied to a stick, hoping that I could reach it but knowing I never could.

In retrospect, I should have noticed that we began walking in a circle three times. Also, I wonder why they never noticed me behind them. Oh, well. Both thoughts I now dismiss.

Suddenly, a large, ornate door appeared from the wall. _Never seen that before. _I blinked in curiosity. Finally, it dawned on me that they would probably be a little freaked that I had followed them. I stepped back behind the edge of the corridor and turned to go when I heard Sirius's voice. "Sorry, mates, I just don't feel up to it right now."

This was met with a chorus of 'no's and protests. Then, inevitably, laughter. I smiled and rolled my eyes. _Boys. _Footsteps began to echo throughout the hallway. _Oh, wait. Boy! _I was just about to flee the area when Sirius stepped round the corner. Our eyes met and we stared at each other for a moment. His eyebrows shot up in confusion and, probably, curiosity. "'Ello. Eavesdropping, are we?"

My face reddened, and my mouth unsuccessfully tried to make a coherent sentence. "I… Uh…" _Say something! _"I followed you!" It came out as a sort of shout, and Sirius took a step back.

Then, silence.

After a rather embarrassing pause, Sirius chuckled. "You're in my year, right?" I nodded_. "_We have potions together."_ And every other class, you cute idiot._

I cleared my throat. "I'm Chelsea Klein." I stuck out my hand.

Sirius smiled lopsidedly and shook my hand vigorously. "Sirius Black III, at your service. I would be obliged to walk back to the common room, if you would let me."

I grinned involuntarily. "I'd like that."_ I only dream about that every night in my life._

Before I could continue, he held up his hand and interrupted, "That is, of course, on the condition you tell me why you were following me."

My smile faltered. "Well…"

"Oh, come on." Sirius tried to charm me. "You can trust me."

_Not with the reputation you have with women, _I thought a bit bitterly, but I laughed anyway. "I just met you! Officially, of course. We've gone to Hogwarts together since our first year." _Not that I was keeping up or anything._

"Exactly!" he chirped. "We've known each other for _ages_."

I began walking slowly towards the common room. "If you put it that way..." He looked at me with his big grey eyes while sticking out his bottom lip. "All right, all right, I'll tell you!" I laughed.

"Yes!" Sirius did a little dance to celebrate, but I help up my free hand and interrupted him.

"But only on one condition." Sirius started to protest, but I said, "Or I won't tell you."

"Fine," Sirius said, mock-exasperated. He grinned.

"First," I began, sobering up, "you mustn't judge me." He nodded, serious himself. "Secondly…"

"That's two!" Sirius protested. I glared at him. "Fine," he muttered. "Secondly?"

"Secondly," I repeated, "You must not think I'm weird. Okay?"

"Okay." Sirius nodded emphatically. When I hesitated, he added, "I promise!"

I stopped walking and turned towards him. We were only a few steps away from the fat lady. Taking a deep breath, I decided, _Why not? _"I followed you… to make sure you were okay." Sirius stared at me with an unreadable face. I continued, but I focused on my feet instead of his eyes. "I wanted to see if you were alright after you got a howler from your mum. I know what it's like to be yelled at. Incessantly." I finished and glanced at him.

He stared at me for a moment. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. _Oh, Merlin. He must think I'm strange! What kind of person says something like that? This isn't some cheesy romance novel. _Then, to my greatest relief, Sirius slowly began to smile. "That is one of the most unusual," here I blushed, "and nicest thing anyone has told me."

I cracked a smile, too. Before I could think, I replied, "What are friends for?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. Friends."

* * *

Later that night, when I was getting ready for bed, Lily Evans bounced up beside me. I smiled. "Hello there, Lily!"

"Hello there, Chelsea," Lily replied enthusiastically. Everything Lily did or said was filled with energy, happiness, and perfection. While she was not gorgeous, she was quite pretty with dark red hair and large green eyes. She was brilliant, and she always was loyal and dedicated. On top of everything else, she was my best friend. Now, she leaned forward on my bed and whispered, her eyes flickering mischievously, "I saw you and Sirius Black walking together. Care to explain why?"

I felt a blush creep into my cheeks. "Not really, no."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Come off it, Chels, and tell me. I'm your _best friend._"

Sighing, I answered, "We were just talking." In hopes of distracting her, I began to fluff my pillows. It didn't work.

"Chels," Lily said, her voice low, "I know you have liked him all year. If there's something going on, please tell me."

Glancing around, I stuffed my pillow into her face. "Shush, Lily! Someone will hear. And if that happens," I said dramatically, "I might just have to tell people that you are in love with-"

With one leap, Lily pinned me down to the bed. Eyes sparkling with fire, she hissed, "I do not like him. If word gets out that I do, I'd never live it down!"

"Okay, okay," I giggled sitting up, "I won't tell everyone that you like James Potter."

She took the pillow from my hands and hit me with it. "Shut up. It's not like he needs anything else to make his head bigger."

Shrugging, I added, "True, but this is still going to be a major blow to ol' Severus."

"Don't even mention his name," Lily huffed. "I do not wish to even _think_ about him right now."

"Still in a row, then?" I asked, resuming my efforts of getting ready for bed.

"Yes," Lily muttered, downcast.

Not quite knowing what to say, I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled. "It'll work out eventually. Either he'll figure out he's a stupid bloke for putting you through this or you'll figure it out yourself." After a moment, she finally grinned back. Like a repetition of today's earlier events, I couldn't help but think _what are friends for?_


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke by falling out of bed into a rather large heap. After a moment of shocked surprise, I sat up and looked around. Lily, who was definitely _not_ the morning person, was already up and getting ready for breakfast. She regarded me for a moment with tired eyes then glanced away. "Er… Good morning?" I asked blearily, trying to untangle my bed sheets from my body.

"No, it's not," Lily muttered. "If it was, we'd both still be asleep."

"Beg pardon?" I asked, truly confused.

Sighing, Lily turned, faced me, and exclaimed, "The Marauders! They are down there, in the common room, working on a stupid prank, and making a commotion!"

Oh. So that's why I fell out of bed. Not knowing quite what to say, I observed, "Well, we can go to breakfast then."

"Chelsea!" I jumped, a bit startled at her high tone. "It is 4:39! _In the morning."_

That explained why Lily was so upset. "Well," I said, crossing to my dresser, "_I _am going to go get some breakfast. _You _can do whatever you want, including sulking here."

"Are you going to the kitchen?" A cheery voice rang out. A girl by the name of Star Leona McAllister sauntered up to us. I nodded. "Well, I'll come with you." She smiled at Lily and me.

Starlie, as she was nicknamed, Lily, and I were all quite tight. I had known Lily since we were four, and we had met Starlie on the train on our way to Hogwarts. Starlie, true to her name, was bright in more ways than one: she was smart, although not quite as much as Lily, with a thousand-watt smile. With a short, black bob and deep brown eyes, she was the object of many guys' affection, although she was happy being single. Something most people didn't know was that she was a pure-blood witch, and that all of the wizards and witches of her mother's side had been in Slytherin; Starlie's mother was disowned when she told her parents that she was marrying a wizard from Gryffindor.

"Fine. You guys go and leave me to my suffering." Lily made a face at us.

I shrugged. "Suit yourself. If you change your mind, just meet us down there."

After a quick change, Starlie and I began making our way to the common room. After we heard an explosion, we exchanged a glance and quickened our pace. The first thing I saw was Sirius's lit-up face. Then, I saw red. And blue. And purple. And all the colors of the rainbow.

Starlie let out a low whistle while I was too shocked to say anything. The colors were blobs, suspended in the air and floating by. Along with those blobs, the walls of the common room were shimmering with the different colors.

Neither of those two things, however, was the most shocking thing. It was the fact that the Marauders were also shimmering different colors, and, more importantly, different patterns. Peter, the squeaky, shy boy, was a solid pattern that changed shades quite suddenly. Remus, the quietest and the smartest of the Marauders, had an interesting plaid-like pattern, while James seemed to have an aura illuminating around him. Most interesting, though, was that Sirius had cheetah-like spots, all varying colors, moving across his skin. "Well," James chirped, eyes wide, "that's certainly new."

Sirius was grinning while poking the dots on his skin. "I agree, mate, but the fact that it's stinging probably isn't a good sign." Now, he glanced up and saw Starlie and me. "'Ello, girls. Up a bit early, aren't we?"

"Excuse me?" I snapped. "_You _woke us up." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Starlie raise her eyebrows at me. It wasn't like me to be so assertive.

"Oh." This came from James. "Sorry 'bout that. We've been… Experimenting."

Starlie regarded the Marauders for a moment. "We can tell." Then, as an afterthought, she added, "Along with more than half the other girls in our dormitory as well."

Here, I narrowed my eyes at James and joined in by saying, "Including Lily."

James smiled while Sirius and Remus chuckled. "So, what you girls planning to do now that you're up?" Sirius asked good-naturedly. "It is a bit early to wander about the grounds."

Hmm. I hadn't considered this. I answered him anyway. "We're going to get breakfast."

"Really, now?" Sirius's eyes gleamed and I became a bit worried. It was a Marauder, after all. "Since we troubled you, let us make it up to you by escorting you to the kitchen."

"Yes!" James said a bit too enthusiastically.

Warily, I looked at them, but Starlie seemed excited, too. "Sure! It'd be fun."

"You can leave me out of it," Remus sighed. "This is enough shenanigans for one night. Or morning, depending on how you look at it."

"Wait, wait, wait," I interrupted. "Aren't you guys going to…" Here I stared wearily at a floating orange blob. "Clean up a bit, first? At least stop glowing, I mean."

"Nah. Where would the fun in that be?" Sirius grinned. I simply shook my head. "Now, after you, ladies?" Sirius gestured dramatically towards the door and bowed.

Rolling my eyes, I walked past them, followed by Starlie. Remus leaned in close to us and muttered, "I'm always stuck with the clean-ups." Starlie smiled sympathetically.

After we left the common room, I glanced at the fat lady's portrait. She wasn't there. Pushing aside my worries, I focused on the two Marauders. They were just so nonchalant about the fact they were emanating color.

"So, James," Sirius said in a faux-serious voice, interrupting my thoughts.

"So, Sirius," James mimicked, also donning a serious face.

"I don't believe you have met my friend here." Here, Sirius looked at me as I felt my face reddened.

"In fact, I don't believe I have," James regarded me as well. My blush deepened. "So, who is this shy friend of yours?"

Before I could reply, Sirius said, "Why, this is my good friend Chelsea Klein!"

James bowed low. "How do you do, Miss Klein?"

Regaining my composure, I attempted to match their overdramatic politeness and curtsied. "I'm well, thank you. How do you do, Mister Potter?"

"Quite terrible, actually." I raised my eyebrows. "Miss Evans, I believe, is mad at me for awaking her. Do you suppose if I bring her some breakfast she'll forgive me?"

Trying not to laugh, I replied, "It is quite plausible. What could you lose by trying?"

Here, Starlie interrupted. "His dignity, perhaps?"

Sirius chuckled and said, "My dear girl, he has none. May I inquire your name?"

She smiled and also curtsied. "I am Star Leona McAllister, but please, call me Starlie."

James and Sirius bowed and simultaneously asked, "How do you do, Miss Starlie?"

I chuckled and interrupted. "Are you always this silly?"

They glanced at each other, grinned, and nodded. "Yes, we are, indeed." Sirius said.

We walked in a happy silence, and James and Starlie began a polite conversation after awhile.

"So, Sirius," I said after some time had passed.

"So, Chelsea," Sirius replied, imitating me.

"Please don't start that." I pretended to be annoyed with him. It didn't work.

Being the gentleman he is, though, he pretended that it had and that he was hurt. "Do what, Miss Chelsea?" He put his hand over his heart. "I'm offended with that accusatory tone of yours."

Continuing our trek towards the kitchen, I answered, "You know, pretending to be serious when you aren't."

"But Chelsea," Sirius said, grabbing my shoulder and looking me in the eye, "I _am _Sirius."

My heart fluttered at him touching me. I nearly forgot to breathe. Somehow, though, I remembered to laugh. "Play on words," I giggled. "Nice. So you really are a funny man."

Sirius shrugged. "That's what they call me. But what were you going to say before I changed the subject, Miss Chelsea?"

My mind was still focused on his hand that was still touching my shoulder which was still leaving me breathless. Of course, good things don't last. He left my personal space and my breathing returned. "Um…" _Merlin's beard, how hard is it to form a sentence in front of this perfect moron?_ "What in the name of Merlin's hat made you decide to have multi-colored polka dots?" _Very good, Chelsea. You had a reprimanding tone in your voice, but at least it was a complete sentence._

It was then that Fate decided I have had enough fun, and I proceeded to walk straight into the corner of a corridor. Thankfully, my nose remained intact. Unfortunately, my pride did not.

James started laughing at top volume while Sirius, at least, was trying to stifle his. Starlie looked on in horror. "Chels, are you okay?" She shot an evil look at the two boys, making them immediately shut up.

I wiggled my nose and tried to make the blush I felt go away. "Yes, I am fine. This is what happens when you get me up before five in the morning."

"What happens if we wake you up at 4:59?" James asked rebelliously.

Sighing, I answered, "Something like this. I can't think straight this early."

Starlie cleared her throat and muttered, "I don't think that's why you can't think straight." Elbowing her in ribs, I smiled as I wished I could shove my wand through that pretty little head of hers. Maybe then she would be quiet.

"So… That's all that would happen?" Sirius glanced at me and then at James. A bad feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.

"Yes," I said wearily. James and Sirius suddenly high-fived, and I became instantly worried. "Why do you ask?"

"Because if you aren't going to be mad if we wake you up at 4:49 each morning –" James began.

"– As you said you wouldn't –" Sirius intervened.

"– Then I suppose we will have to see if that's true," James finished, smiling.

My mouth gaping open, I stuttered. "But… But… I _will _be mad!"

"Wait, I can't hear you," Sirius said, grinning.

"Me either." James laughed at the look at horror on my face.

"Sirius Black III and James Potter, I swear on Merlin's beard that you will regret waking me up at 4:59 if you ever dare to do so. Do _not _try me," I hissed.

"Looks like we have a feisty one on our hands, mate," James chuckled. Starlie shook her head knowingly as I put my hands on my hips and glared at him.

"That it does, mate, that it does. What, exactly, would you do if we were to offend you in such a way? Hypothetically, of course." Sirius grinned, trouble dancing in his eyes.

I glanced at Starlie. She grinned. "Well, I would tell Lily every little secret about you James."

"Really, now? What secrets are you referring to?" James jutted out his bottom jaw, trying to act tough.

"Just ones like the fact you are jealous of her friendship with Severus." James's face fell as Sirius laughed.

"She has you there, mate."

"Shut up, mate." James punched Sirius in the shoulder and glared at me.

"And you." I turned to Sirius, who immediately sobered up. "You I would declare war on."

"Oh? And just what kind of war?" Sirius asked me in a very calm tone, although I could see excitement in his eyes.

"A prank war," I said, eyes narrowing. _What are you doing? You are asking for it. You know how it is. Declare war on one Marauder and you dig your own grave._

"We'll see about that." James and Sirius surveyed me carefully. Starlie sauntered over and looped her arm through mine.

"We can take them," she said aloud, winking at me.

"That's doubtful. We're more experienced in the way of prank." James scoffed at the mere mention of competition.

"We'll see," I echoed Sirius's earlier sentiment. "Just don't wake us up before tomorrow, or you will regret it." I turned around with Starlie, heading towards the kitchen.

"Are you sure you want this?" Sirius's question made flush, but this time, it was with excitement at such a challenge. _Chelsea, what is happening to you? This isn't like you. You're the kind, sweet, quiet girl, not a trouble-maker. _I shrugged all this uncertainty off. I'd deal with it later.

Grinning, I simply replied, "You know, mate, I can't take you seriously when you look like you have some neon skin disease." Then, nodding at Starlie, we took off running down the corridor, leaving the two boys behind. Somehow, though, I felt like I left part of me back there too. You know what, though? I have never felt freer.


End file.
